FRESNO, Calif. --Three straight years Shay Selby had her Duke team on the cusp of the Final Four only to fall just short.

Now, Selby walks away as a senior hoping she left the young program in good position to get over the hump next season.

Duke watched Nnemkadi Ogwumike go off for 29 points and nine rebounds
Monday night as top-seeded Stanford reached its fifth straight Final
Four and ended the second-seeded Blue Devils' season with an 81-69
victory in the Fresno Regional final.

``It was a good run,'' SeIby said. ``I think this one probably hurt
the most. When you're a sophomore or junior, it's, `Oh, you have next
year.' I have no next year. Hopefully I can say I left something with
them that will help them for next year.''

Ogwumike made things happen on both ends of the floor, even when Duke
double-teamed or switched into a zone to try to throw the senior star
off her game.

Stanford's season will end where it has every year for Ogwumike: in the Final Four.

``This started before I even came to Stanford. I always wanted to be
part of the culture,'' she said. ``This never gets old. Not a lot of
teams get to say that they've gone. For me to get to say I've been on
four times, that's a lot to ask for.''

Little sister, Chiney, did plenty to seal the Denver trip, too -
along with everybody else. Chiney Ogwumike grabbed 17 rebounds to go
with 12 points and freshman Amber Orrange came through with 13 points
and four assists as the Cardinal extended their school-record winning
streak to 32 games.

They all hope there will be one more piece of hardware to haul home to The Farm before Nneka Ogwumike is through.

Bring on Brittney Griner and unbeaten Baylor (38-0).

Stanford (35-1), looking for the program's first national title since
1992, will play Sunday night against the Lady Bears at the Pepsi
Center.

``We don't get the chance often to be an underdog and totally overlooked,'' Cardinal coach Tara VanDerveer said.

Chelsea Gray had 23 points, four rebounds and four assists and Selby
scored 11 in her final college game for Duke (27-6), which fell short of
reaching the program's first Final Four since 2006. The Blue Devils
never got clicking on offense the way they had in their three NCAA wins.

The projected No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft, Nneka Ogwumike scored in
the paint, on the perimeter, on leaping putbacks and even by knocking
down a pretty 10-foot turnaround jumper late in the first half as the
Cardinal built a comfortable 40-25 lead at the break.

``It was unfortunate for us. We tried to defend the inside and the
outside. They hit some nice shots,'' Duke coach Joanne P. McCallie said.

Stanford boasted a strong rooting section that made the three-hour
trip from the Bay Area to the Save Mart Center, including Cardinal
football coach David Shaw and his wife, Kori. The couple sat alongside
former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

In a matchup dubbed ``nerd on nerd'' by Chiney Ogwumike for the
schools' rigorous academic standards, Stanford's smart girls aced their
latest final. But this group has its sights set on winning two more to
make good on the most important test and give Hall of Fame 26th-year
coach VanDerveer another long-awaited championship.

Joslyn Tinkle knocked down two 3-pointers in the opening five minutes
and also made an early steal, then hit another 3 with 4:26 left that
put Stanford ahead by 13. She finished with 13 points, four rebounds and
three assists.

On Saturday, Nneka Ogwumike almost single handedly carried the load,
scoring 39 points in a 76-60 regional semifinal win over South Carolina.

``What I really liked about this game is we got contributions from different people,'' VanDerveer said.

Gray, with another 50 or so family and friends cheering the guard who
grew up about 75 miles north in Stockton, converted a three-point play
with 10:46 remaining to pull Duke within 52-44, but the Cardinal
answered yet again. Toni Kokenis rolled in a 3 on the other end.

Selby, who had a quiet night until midway through the second half,
made a three-point play with 9:48 to go to keep her team close. But Duke
missed three key scoring opportunities the next time down.

The Blue Devils switched to a zone in the second half after that same
move worked so well in a 74-47 rout of St. John's, but Orrange and
Kokenis successfully drove and dished - and they also handled Duke's
trap press. Kokenis had eight of Stanford's 21 assists.

``First, we allowed them to get 81 points. We're not going to beat a
team if it doesn't start on defense,'' Gray said. ``They're a very
strong group. If one doesn't have the shot the other one is looking for
them.''

Elizabeth Williams, Duke's star 6-foot-3 freshman playing with a
stress fracture in her lower right leg, quickly scored to make it 48-39.
She scored 12 points while playing much of the game in foul trouble.

Stanford began the game 7 for 11 and had assists on each of those
baskets, and the Cardinal limited Duke to one attempt thanks to Chiney
Ogwumike's six rebounds in the opening 8 1/2 minutes. Stanford held a
9-3 rebounding advantage after getting outboarded 38-36 against South
Carolina two nights earlier. That became a focus for both teams in this
game.

Duke was held to just 39.7 percent from the field, going 3 for 14
from 3-point range. That was a big change for a Blue Devils team that
had shot above 50 percent in the first half of its previous six games,
and went 53.7 percent overall Saturday night to follow up its
season-best 65.6-percent performance from the field in a 96-80
second-round win over Vanderbilt in which they dished out 28 assists.